November 10, 2017

Friday Gratefulness and Favorites

1. Even though we didn't get a brand new car last weekend, our RAV4 runs better than it did when it was brand-new and it's just as clean...we cleaned it in anticipation of a trade-in and, since that didn't happen, I get to enjoy it now. And now that it's super clean, Scott agreed that the dogs should stay out of it. I love them more than anything but you know how dog hair goes. I honestly feel like my life is back together, after feeling very unorganized since August, with all our random vehicle hiccups and swapping back and forth.

2. Can I say how grateful I am that Scott fixed everything on my car himself? He's always fixed everything on every car by himself. This RAV4 actually required a new wiring harness and he sat and rewired pieces and matched up connectors and stripped down the entire engine (literally everything under the hood was on the ground) to get this thing fixed. Even ordering and installing a new computer for the RAV4...he did all of that. We now have two extra wiring harnesses and one extra computer lying around...was this a cheap fix? No. But the dealership wanted close to $4,000 when they quoted us 3 years ago. He did it for a quarter of that. It didn't even take him that long, once he knew he had the right parts. The dealership needed two days just to diagnose it (and they did that part incorrectly). Scott replaced everything in a few hours.

Wiring harness

He's also fixed the Nissan (I don't even know what was wrong with it, but it's a 1999 so there's always something that could be improved upon...he rebuilt the exhaust a few years ago), and he's getting ready to pull the transmission out of the diesel truck, so as to replace it.

It's been a long season for us these last six months or so.

But I would be remiss if I didn't offer him the biggest compliments for being so self-sufficient. I only wish people understood WHY we are so busy every weekend. We're busy with stuff like this. No one else does stuff like this with their days off (and sometimes days on). If you do know of someone, please send me their number. Scott could use a like-minded friend. (I'm only kind of kidding.)

3. Winter is here and I like it.

4. My new planner showed up this week. It took me forever to decide on a pattern. They don't have plaid anymore, so I went with houndstooth. This was a splurge. But, as I realized this past year, I'll use it.

5. No students today, as we are doing "professional development". Honestly, we rarely have full 5-day weeks in my district and I get too used to that and then when we do have a 5-day week, it throws me off and the kids are miserable too. But it's always oddly relaxing to go to work and not have students. Like, this is what most of the working population must feel like, right? Getting to go to the bathroom whenever you want and all.

I opted for a less fancy planner this year because the Plum Paper website was being a PITA but I found one that was superclose to what I wanted at Michael's. And it cost me only $14 so I consider that an all around win.